Step 2: The Brackets

Step 3: Gluing the Parts Together

Before you glue the brackets into place in the Altoids tin, mark the center line of the tin with a Sharpie and ruler. Now you can put the brackets in...

I've always had trouble with what to do with my earbuds. I've tried holding them, bunching them up and stuffing them in my pocket (which my friend still does), and recently I've used the over-under method. That works okay, but if you have other stuff in your pocket, like I do on a regular basis, they tend to still get tangled up. So I thought, then looked at the Altoids gum tin sitting in the corner waiting for a project. That was enough for me.This is a really simple project that only uses a few components and tools, but is very rewarding in the end when you can rest easy knowing that your earbuds will feel no more pain from getting poked by screws and other useless junk in you pocket. Have fun!

Step 1: Parts and Stuff

As for parts, the only things you'll need are an Altoids gum tin and little "L" brackets. I got mine from OSH. They're about 3/4" long and tall, and about 1/2" wide.The tools are pretty easily obtainable, too. You'll need a hot glue gun with glue sticks, a vice, a flat head screwdriver, and a wrench. The last few tools can be substituted for similar items. They are all for bending the "L" brackets, so use whatever works.

Step 2: The Brackets

You will need to bend the "L" brackets enough so that when they are in the tin, the lid won't contact them when it closes. This should be close to 90 degrees.To bend the brackets, first put one in the vice. Then slide the end of the screw driver under it and lift up. This should keep the entire "arm" straight as you bend it. You may also need a wrench for the last bit. Once the first one is done, duplicate the method for the second bracket.

This is a great idea!!!! I couldn't find a gum tin so I used a small Altoids tin (1 inch by 1 1/2 inch and 1/2 tall). I couldn't find angle brackets small enough, so I used 2 "Binding Post with Screws". I used JB Weld to glue the posts down. It holds iPhone earbuds with little room to spare.

Good idea. I actually came up with this idea before I even discovered Insctructables.com, I built a case for my Ipod Nano. It fit nicely, put some protective coverings in the inside walls, and drilled a hole in the bottom for the headphones to go through. It worked out very nicely, and protected my Ipod from breaking multiple times. Also awards mega geek points.

At first I saw the title and was thinking this would be rubbish but the addition of a bracket instead of telling people to blindly stuff them in to an altoids tin makes this pretty nice... I personally give up and just learn to enjoy the untangling of headphones, or leave them on me so I just plug them back in to my phone and ears... I'm tempted to mod a retractable USB cable in to a headphone line but that plan's not without its issues.

Yeah. I got one of those retractable cords. It was actually a firewire 400 and I got it at an electronics swap meet. I got home and opened it up and of turned out that the parts inside were too small for the diameter of the standard apple earbuds. Buy now I have an extra FireWire cable! Make sure that your earbud cord will fit inside the little retractable thing before you go out and buy one...

My intentions were to solder a jack and headphones on using the existing cables inside the cord, as long as they were well put together at the ends it'd also be more durable than standard headphones...

I had the same "What to do with my earbuds" problem at work. I work in a fiberglass repair shop and was using ziplock bags to keep them clean, but that just looked stupid. I was gonna do this, but didn't like that the box is not really airtight, and rectangular. I used a York Mints tin. It's round, so you can just coil up your earbuds, it's airtight, so no fiberglass dust gets in. I glued some small magnets on the backside of the tin so I can stick it to my toolbox. Works perfect.

About This Instructable

Bio:A Bay Area native interested in electronics, mechanics, and robotics, and automobiles. Formerly the electronics captain of Team 100 in the FIRST Robotics Competition, I now study Mechanical Engineeri...read more »